Thanks for the Memories
by OmgItsPocky
Summary: Fate brings two people together in the strangest way. Who knew things can get so complicated between two strangers in a house?
1. Request Pending

Thanks for the Memories

Chapter 1; Request Pending

* * *

"The rent is rather cheap and no real-estate agents involved. Smooth and quick."

_"That's great yeah. You should hurry before someone else gets it."_

"Hn."

Sasori pulled his luggage and stopped, right outside a lone house. It wasn't exactly big or small, but just the right size for a family of four. He observed the small front yard and noticed a mailbox.

_Haruno_

"I'll call you back"

Sasori cut the call and slipped the phone in his pocket before pulling his luggage, approaching the door. He started ringing the door bell and soon, footsteps could be heard running and the door swung opened almost immediately.

Pink

Sasori blinked.

"May I help you?"

Sasori held up the newspaper in his hand and her emerald eyes shifted to the the bright red circle.

"Oh! You want to rent a room? Come on in." She moved aside to make space for him.

The redhead picked up his luggage and sauntered in. He glanced around the living room and the kitchen, it was pretty spacious and big, just like what he thought.

"The rooms are on the second level. you can leave your things here, there's no one living here other than myself." She was about to climb up the stairs but she suddenly whirled around. "My name is Haruno Sakura."

Sasori placed his luggage at the corner of the living room and looked up. A few second passed as they were both staring at each other until he realized he was suppose to say his name.

"Umm. Sasori."

"Sasori." Sakura repeated softly, and it gave a slight chill down Sasori's spine when Sakura whispered his name like that.

They reached the second floor and Sakura pointed at the corner,. "That's my room." She then moved towards to the opposite of her room and unlocked the door, pushing it open. "This is the room I'm renting, take a look around."

Sasori ambled in without hesitation as he admired the simple and clean room. He nodded his head, feeling pleased that he had found such a good catch on his first try. He wheeled around and gave a small smile. "I'm taking it."

"That's great then, it's settled. I'm glad you're satisfied with it."

"Then I'll give you the deposit first." Sasori fished out his cheque book from his pocket and flipped it open, uncapping his pen on the other hand.

"Sakura! Whose luggage is that? Did someone come over to rent a room?" A head popped out from the stairways and her aqua blue eyes almost rolled out when she saw Sasori holding onto the cheque.

"Oh Ino, I thought he's fine so-"

"Hold it right there." Ino rushed forward and snatched Sasori's pen before he could even write anything. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and glared slightly at the blonde before gazing at Sakura.

"I just went to the bathroom and so much things almost happened." Ino handed the pen back to Sasori.

He grabbed the pen and pointed it at her. "Is she your mother?" Sasori stared wearily at Ino.

"Excuse me?" She huffed and started rolling up her sleeve.

"You said you live alone." He raised an eyebrow at Sakura.

"This is Ino, my friend. She's not living here, she just came over to help me with this whole renting thing." Sakura explained before scrutinizing Ino who was fuming red. "This is Sasori. He want to rent a room too."

Ino cleared her throat. "Sorry, but we aren't renting the room to you, yet."

Sakura pulled her friend back and looked back at Sasori. "A moment please." She gave a small smile and dragged Ino away.

Ino gritted her teeth as she gave a sidelong glance at the redhead. "That face of his deserved to be punched."

"What are you up to now? You were the one that said that renting a room out is a good idea to earn quick bucks since I live alone, but now you are delaying the entire thing." Sakura frowned.

"I wasn't expecting another guy, to be honest." Ino sighed, brushing her hair away. "We have to be cautious with men."

Sakura slowly grabbed the collar of her T-shirt and pulled it around her neck. She slowly turned and gave Sasori a tiny peek before turning back to Ino. "Alright then, should we tell him to leave and wait for the next person?"

"His looks are not bad, quite handsome that the other one that came in the morning." Ino scratched her chin.

"Your point is?"

"Comparing him with the first guy, he's the deal. Furthermore, the first guy that came kept on looking at your butt, whereas this guy didn't. So he should be either into guys or just not interested in you, which is a good thing."

"True." Sakura nodded.

"And men are often more organized than women because they have very little things to organize in the first place. And he only brought one luggage. Remember the other three women who came by to looked around, the first one have four luggage, both the second and third have three luggage."

"Yeah." Sakura nodded.

Ino's face slowly turned serious. "So all we need is just..."

"Just...?" Sakura quirked an eyebrow.

Ino turned around, shocking Sakura slightly as the blonde approached Sasori. "Come back tomorrow at five."

Sakura gasped.

Sasori raised an eyebrow and looked over Ino in slight disdain. "Apparently this house isn't yours, so why should I listen to you?"

Ino pretended to survey her nails. "I am sort of the 'agent' here so either you listen or leave."

"Give me a good reason why should I come back tomorrow."

"We need to plan a contract for this whole thing. Don't worry, no fees will be charged. We are doing this contract for personal reasons." Ino smiled, too sweetly for both Sakura and Sasori's taste.

The redhead rest his side on the wall, crossing his arms. "What contract are you talking about?"

"Do's and Don'ts" Ino smirked. "We're renting it cheaply so you should at least give in to this matter, you know. If you don't agree with it, we'll just rent it to others." She shrugged casually.

Sasori sighed and turned to stare emotionlessly at Sakura. She blinked and smiled sheepishly before stepping forward. "Just like what she said."

He turned away, his eyes showed a little disappointment. Or was it all just Sakura's imagination? Sasori shrugged and sighed loudly. "And now I'm wondering who am I exactly living under this roof with."

"Only when you agree with our terms, then you're officially living here." Ino scorned.

He silently departed and trudged down the stairs, followed by the two women as he grabbed hold of his luggage and slightly turned. "You said five tomorrow. I'll be here sharp." He muttered and went to open the door.

"See you tomorrow."

That voice sent another chill down his spine. He turned and stared at Sakura who blinked at him again after he gave such a weird look at her.

"You may leave now. Bye." Ino shooed Sasori.

He glanced over at the blonde and scoffed before heading out.

As the door closed behind him, Sakura nudged Ino before they went over to the couch. "Is that a good thing? I mean, he have to spend his money to stay at other place before living here. If I were him, I would just forget about it."

"If I were him, I should be very happy. The rent and place is good, why would he _forget_ about it?" Ino rest her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "We should start on the contract too."

Sakura nodded and smiled.

0o0

_"So how did it go yeah?"_

Sasori gave a last look at the house before walking to the next road to hail a cab. "The house is pretty nice, the room is big too."

_"You got it?"_

"Sort of. Her friend said to come back next day for some redundant contract signing."

_"Wait. Did you just say; her?"_

"I know what you're trying to say, but I just want to move in somewhere quick. She's the only one in the list that doesn't involve those annoying real-estate agents."

_"Then what contract are you talking about?"_

Sasori sighed. "Troublesome things that only women find it necessary to do."

* * *

Author's Note: I have no excuse for my 5 months of disappearance. It's been ages since I logged in too.  
But here it is, a very very very very very revised chapter of TftM. Totally different now, isn't it? Do you guys prefer the previous one or the current one?  
I'm now about to finish with Remember? so you guys don't have to worry. I'm really sorry about my hiatus  
I would like to dedicate this story to all my readers, especially the ones that are still supporting me even till now; misscheekiness! Thank you for caring and supporting me when I wanted to quit that time, really! :)


	2. A Clean Break Between Us

Thanks for the Memories

Chapter 2; A clean break between us

* * *

The doorbell rang exactly when the red numbers once the clock turned 17:00. Sakura jogged over to the door, knowing fully well who the vistor was. She opened it, there standing right outside was the redhead she expected.

"Come in." Sakura gestured as Sasori smiled wryly and entered the house, his face immediately fell lax when he noted the blonde sitting on the sofa, focusing on filing her nails. He rolled his luggage in and left it there at the corner.

"Someone's feeling confident." Ino uncrossed her legs and chuckled when she raised up her head to see Sasori bringing his things in.

Sasori drily laughed and Sakura cringed at how fake that laughter was as she sighed inwardly and trudged to her seat. Both Ino and her sat on the couch while Sasori sat on the lone chair before the TV screen. Sakura then brought their attention to the paper on the table as she tapped her fingernails on it. "Here's the agreement I've made yesterday. Take a look."

He bent forward and took the paper, skimming through it quickly. His eyes darted around the first page before proceeding to the second page in less than five seconds. In just ten seconds, he lightly threw the paper and it landed right on the glass table.

"That's fast, you sure you read everything?" Sakura gave a skeptical look.

Sasori pointed at the paper. "Most of your requests are fine. For example, you don't have to worry about rule #4. I won't be bringing any women back here to do whatever you are expecting me to do. And also, most of your rules mentioned about respecting each other privacy and I'm very glad you agree on that part as well."

"You said: Most of your requests are fine. Does that mean you don't agree with some?" Ino smirked.

"I just want to add several things that you left out." Sasori fished out a folded paper and lay it flat on the table. The other two strained their neck to see what it was written.

"The clothes are to be washed separately. And clean your own dishes." He tapped two of the of the sentence out of the entire list.

Sakura scooped up her own contract. "I thought I mentioned about washing our clothes separately."

"No. You only wrote no mixing of different colored clothes. Look at #12."

Ino glanced over Sakura's shoulder and nodded. "He's right. It's totally two different meaning."

Sakura stood up with both her contract and Sasori's contract in her hand. "Alright, I don't mind the two extra rules given. And since we are both agreeable, I suppose you can move in today. I'll edit it now so you can sign it."

Sasori crossed his arm with a tiny smile that went unnoticed to the two other women. He finally felt satisfied and a little happy about something today.

A minute passed after Sakura left the room and Ino couldn't resist the curiosity in her anymore. She snapped her fingers, trying to get his attention and she succeeded as he gave a bored look at her.

"It's been bugging me for a bit but how the hell do you read all the rules within ten seconds?"

He continued staring uninterestedly at Ino, contemplating whether he should say the reason or not. In the end, he just shrugged. "It's one of the basic things I need to learn for my job."

Ino leaned forward with a curious look. "What is your job?"

On the cue, Sakura came back with a new piece of contract and a pen, handing it over to Sasori to check and their conversation was put on hold. Sasori signed it quick and passed it back to Sakura for her to sign it as well. After everything was settled and the deposit was given, Sakura gave an extra copy of the agreement to Sasori while she kept the other.

Sasori then stood up, sighing with a hint of relief and approached to his luggage preparing to bring it to his room. Sakura then took the chair back to the storage room while Ino rushed to Sasori side as he gave a withering look.

"What do you want now."

Ino frowned in disgust. "You haven't answer my question."

Sasori clapped his hands in realization, making an 'oh" shape with his mouth and signalled Ino to come closer. Ino blinked before she did as she was told. Finally, he softly whispered into her ears.

"Why should I tell you?"

Ino gritted her teeth and turned to face the redhead who was staring peacefully at her.

"You-!"

Sakura pulled Ino away just in time before she could react and turn violent. "I don't want a murder to happen in my house!" She exclaimed.

Ino pointed a finger at Sasori before turning to Sakura. "This man is dangerous! You can't let him move in."

"What are you talking about?" Sasori smiled, all fake and innocent. He lifted the copy of the contract and fanned himself before turning away, lifting his luggage up the stairs.

"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Sakura huffed.

Ino paused for a while before continuing. "He's...mysterious! He could read the entire rules in ten seconds flat, don't you find him suspicious? I now officially conclude that he's running from some murder in another country and decided to take cover by living here."

"You're thinking too much, Ino. Be rational. If he's a murderer, how can he live in a hotel so openly without being caught?"

"And how do you know he slept in a hotel? He could be sleeping in an alley or something."

Sakura sighed and pointed at the papers left on the table. "The paper that he wrote his own rules on belonged to a hotel nearby. It has the logo on it."

Ino sighed as well and gave an exaggerated shrug. "Fine, if you insisted that he's a safe person to live with." She cleared her throat and rushed to the bottom of the staircase, facing upwards and screamed. "If something ever happens to you, Sakura, I'll never forget that murderer's face!"

There was a faint sound of the door being slammed shut.

0o0

It's been two weeks since that day Sasori moved in.

Everything was fine and things were going quite smoothly for both Sasori and Sakura. They followed the rules and both minded their own business, never once prey about each other's personal matters or whatsoever and Sasori had never been so glad to find a place like this. Though they still greet each other good mornings or strike up some light conversations whenever they were in the same area such as the kitchen or living room, it mostly ended within two minutes.

Sakura was never at home from morning to evening since she went for her work. And because of her busy work schedule, Ino would sometimes drop by, her main purpose for coming over was to check up on Sakura's front yard.

She never had the time for this whole planting idea, but Ino still insisted that she should spice up her small garden even although Sakura proved her point about her bad habits of forgetting to water the plant when the flowers Ino asked her to take care in a week wilted the third day.

Every time Ino came over, Sasori was at home. She would give Sasori a glare or two when he was either watching the TV or having his own lunch in the kitchen but they often ignore each other most of the time. But once they started to talk, their argument could last for hours, and there was once when Sakura was called back home by a neighbor because she thought there was a murder going on.

"Why do you like to argue with Ino so much?"

Sasori shrugged, his eyes focused on his shoelace as he was sitting down on the steps. "She reminds me of a friend of mine. And I just couldn't stand it."

"What do you mean you couldn't stand it?" Sakura opened the door with a bright orange watering can, something that Ino bought for her so she could easily remember to water the plants whenever she saw that bright colored can. She stepped out and stared back with a puzzling frown.

He stood up and patted on his sports shorts, jogging out of the house and to the yard. He turned back and looked at Sakura as he continued jogging on the spot. "I don't know how to explain. It's just like that." He then whirled around and began running out of the yard and towards a garden near by.

Sakura sighed and walked towards the flower bushes. It's not like she hated the bickering. Her other friends always quarrel a lot, the patients in the hospital also complain and argue about many things. She was already used to people squabbling but this was between her tenant and best friend. It really sucks to be in the middle sometimes.

In a few seconds, she could hear loud steps approaching. At first she wasn't bothered by it, thinking it might be a neighbor passing by, but a hand grabbed her shoulder and it shocked her that she almost karate-d.

"Sasori?" Sakura blinked rapidly when she realized who the person was.

"Haruno. If there's a man asking for me, say that you don't know such person." Sasori in a serious tone before glancing back at his shoulders. He then turned back, muttering incoherent curses and dived behind the flower bushes. Sakura gave a small surprise squeak before she could hear another person approaching to her direction.

"Excuse me."

Sakura twirled around with her watering can in her hand. There standing infront of her was a tall man, his age seemed quite unpredictable. Probably in his forties or fifties? He seemed to be in a business class, with that professional look and clothes.

"Can I help you?" Sakura smiled.

"Do you know this man named Sasori?" The man asked before he put his hand in his chest pocket, fishing out a photograph and showed it to Sakura. It was Sasori standing and facing the camera, but his eyes were on something else, like an audience or something. His hand was pointing onto a huge board of different colored paint splashed on it.

"Uh." Sakura glanced around the streets and purposely took a glimpse of the bushes. She turned back and shook her head. "Nope, never."

The man grumbled and flapped the photograph, a little pissed in Sakura's opinion. "I heard he came to this town and checked into a hotel two weeks ago but left after a day. He must have rented a room somewhere so he wouldn't be so easily tracked down." He scoffed. "He might be a genius but I'm not that dumb to not figure that out."

_That was actually correct._ Sakura laughed nervously before giving an awkward smile. "May I know the reason why are you searching for him?" She asked.

He stared at her for a moment before taking out a card from another pocket. He handed it to Sakura as she stared at it with a raised eyebrow.

"My name is Kakuzu. I'm Sasori's manager."

* * *

Author's Note: I'm totally fired up to write this story for some reason LOL. And here it is, the second chapter! Hope you guys like it :)  
Reviews are appreciated!


	3. Everything Starts From Here

Thanks for the Memories

Chapter 3; Everything Starts From Here

* * *

"Manager." Sakura repeated, staring at the card in her hand. "What does this guy you are searching for works as anyway?" She casually asked, acting all innocent when she herself really wanted to know the answer since the first time he met him.

"He's an artist and he's on the run." He drawled, eyeing back down at the photo before showing it to Sakura again. "So if you see this guy, please call me."

Sakura nodded immediately. "I definitely will, don't worry."

Kakuzu stared down the road and looked at his watch. "I've wasted so much time finding this idiot, he'll get it once I find him." He looked up at Sakura and bowed before leaving without a word, never looking back.

Sakura fanned herself with the name card and whistled, trudging towards the bush after making sure that Kakuzu was out of sight. Sasori slowly stood up and brushed his sleeves and shirt, picking up the leaves that were left in his hair as well. Sakura continued staring at him with a smirk while he grudgingly stepped out from the thick bush and gave a bored stare.

"You aren't going to betray me, are you." He didn't even sounded like he was joking about the question.

Sakura shrugged and just when she was about to speak, Sasori wanted to snatch the card but Sakura was faster. She jumped back, he stepped forward. She hopped to her left, he reached his hand towards his right. Sakura continued waving the card high up in the air, giving a teasing look while Sasori snapped in annoyance and finally stopped the retarded chasing games.

"Alright what do you want me to do. You want to increase the rent fees, so be it."

"Nah uh." Sakura stared down at the name card before sliding it into her chest pocket and patted it proudly, as if daring him to take it. "I'll keep this."

"Why are you acting such a child right now." He scowled. "And I thought you were at least mature for your age."

"I guess two weeks isn't enough to understand me well huh." Sakura walked away and picked up the watering can, preparing to head back to the door. "So are you going to jog? He went to the right though so maybe you can try the left."

He followed her without saying a word, kicking his shoes aside and followed Sakura all the way to the kitchen as she continued whistling while putting the watering back to the storeroom. "Then what do you want me to do then you won't call him. It's not like I'm really on the run-"

"Then what?"

He stared down at her with a skeptical look and she stared back at him, her eyes filled with curiosity. He finally sighed and went to get a glass of water while he started to explain.

"Like I said, I'm not on the run. I'm just getting a break from work while trying to find some inspiration to finish my overdue deadlines." He turned and leaned against the counter, a glass of water in his hand. "We don't just splash some paint on the board and claimed it art. There got to be a reason for every stroke, for every color, for everything we use for the art. The deadlines are killing me so I decided to escape for a little while. Not like I won't go back once I gain some inspiration."

She just stared at him in awe while he looked at her with slight disgust. "Stop looking at me like that, it's really uncomfortable."

"It's unexpected, for you to be an artist." He frowned as she continued with her explanation. "You seemed so easily irritated and impatient all the time and I thought that creating an art, you have to be very calm and patient."

"I kill all emotions when I'm at work."

Sakura blinked. _What a straight and fast answer._

"So are you still going to betray me?" He spat with a hint of annoyance. That was exactly what she meant. He's too easily annoyed.

Sakura sighed and took out the card and she almost, almost thought she saw Sasori's eyes brightened up. But before she handed the card over to him, she asked for a request instead.

"What is it." He spoke in a manner as if he was expecting it. Was she such a person in his eyes, really?

"To be honest, I'm quite tired of you and Ino's bickering almost every week. Can you at least give in to her?"

Sasori set his glass back on the table and crossed his arms. "Fine I'll agree. But if she starts to climb all over my head, I won't just sit there and do nothing."

Sakura smiled and gave it to him while he grabbed it and crushed the paper right in front of her without second thought. She watched him with a surprised look while he just walked up the stairs without turning back once. She heard the door closed afterwards. She let out a breathe and went to get herself a drink as well.

_It's probably the longest conversation we ever had._ Sakura gulped down her water hurriedly, wiping her mouth with the back of her hands. _No wonder he's such an observant person, noticing every details and stuff. Like that day we had the contract, his eyes were scanning the information so fast and accurately..._

Something clicked in her mind as she hastily rushed up to her bedroom. She switched on her computer and went to Google, typing out Sasori's name and before she even hit the space bar, it immediately gave a list of auto search.

Sasori Akasuna  
Sasori Gallery  
Sasori and Deidara Gallery  
Sasori's webpage  
Sasori Akasuna art pieces and collections

Sakura blinked and clicked on Images instead, and she almost couldn't breathe. Sasori's picture were all over the place and she remembered scrolling for quite a while and all the pictures were still Sasori, not some photo of a scorpion tattoo or whatsoever.

Some of the pictures showed him in a smart suit, some in casual clothings. She also recognized one of the picture Kakuzu had showed her earlier before. Sakura then moved on to his webpage and viewed his artworks and she got to admit, some of his art pieces and his quotes really got her thinking about philosophy of life.

She couldn't believe it. She's actually living with a man who was actually so famous in the business world. There were also pictures of him shaking hand with some people Sakura seen on the newspaper covers before. And not just that, there was this really brilliant art piece hanging in the first level of the hospital she was working in and it was actually created none other than Sasori.

She wondered how would Ino react if she were to know about this too. But she'll keep it a secret for now.

0o0

"Sakura."

"Hmmm?" Sakura mumbled, her eyes glued to the screen as she put more chips into her mouth. It was Sunday today and Ino decided to come over to Sakura to watch some movie and share some gossips. Sometimes they wonder if they even graduate from their high school at all since they often act like some teenagers, like what Sasori always commented on.

Ino leaned towards her friend and pointed at the redhead who was in the kitchen, preparing a cup of noodle for himself. "He's been so quiet for the past two weeks, what's up with him?"

She waved her off. "Nothing wrong, don't need to worry."

A heavenly smell of spicy, hot cup noodle caught Ino's attention as she popped her head over the sofa and eyed Sasori carefully as he made his way around them and sat on the single couch. He crossed his legs, adjusted his chopsticks and started slurping his noodles while staring at the television screen.

"Sakura-"

"Wait Ino, we're getting to the good part."

The blonde sighed and slumped onto her seat, her eyes never leaving Sasori once at all. Not three minutes passed and Sasori finally spoke.

"What is this movie called? I think I've seen it before."

"Oh here's the cover." Sakura immediately put the bag of chips on Ino's lap and the latter stared at her friend, eyes wide as Sakura passed the box to Sasori. "It's no surprise you seen it before since it's so popular. I watched it before too but the movie is just too good to-"

Ino cleared her throat and coughed out loud, even twice just to catch their attention. The two of them turned and looked at her, giving her a blank stare.

"Excuse me." She pointed at the screen, her tone tainted with sarcasm. "We're getting to the good part."

0o0

"How do I look?" Sakura twirled around in her light green dress and gave a seductive wink at Sasori. He just stared at her uninterestedly like always before looking her from head to toe.

"That flower pin. It doesn't match."

Sakura stared down at the purple flower pin she placed at the right strap of her dress. She bit her lips and nodded her head, giving an awkward laugh as she lightly touched the flower. "True, but this is a gift from him and well, I want to wear it today."

"Him?" Sasori inclined his head.

"My ex-boyfriend." She fiddled with with her dress a little as she stared admirably into space. "He bought this pin for me before we broke and he'll be going to the reunion dinner so..."

Sasori smirked and gave a snort as he turned back to his computer. "So you're planning to get back together with him?"

Sakura widened her eyes and embarrassedly rubbed the back of her neck. "It's not like that but- I- but-"

"Then pick another dress if you want to fit that purple pin. A white dress would be good, it brings out that color of the flower." He started typing onto his computer before he continued. "Although this green dress is better to go with your eyes."

She blinked and smiled at that unintended compliment before she sighed when realization dawned over her. She leaned against the kitchen counter. "I rarely buy dresses so the only dresses I have is this and another dark blue one. It doesn't fit this purple as well..."

"Up to you." He shrugged.

She sucked in a deep breathe and started to unpin her flower from her dress and waved it at him as he gave a sidelong glance.

"I've decided to not wear it." She put the pin into her small bag. "I'll take your advice, Mr. Consultant."

"You make it sound like I'm forcing you so next time don't ask for my opinion any more."

"Hey I was just kidding, do you have to sound that serious?" Sakura shook her head. "I probably shouldn't even wear it in the first place anyway, since things might get awkward if anyone misunderstands."

"You sounded sad." He stated as a matter of factly.

"Do I?" Sakura cracked a small smile.

Before he could answer, her phone rang as she quickly answered the call while he went back to his work.

"Hey Ino. You reached? Alright I'll head out now, bye."

She cut the call as she stared at Sasori who was still typing furiously as if he was typing a novel. "You should let your eyes rest, sitting down and staring at the computer the whole day isn't good for you. You should go out and continue your jogging routine like before."

"Are you trying to mock me. I can't even go out now thanks to Kakuzu who kindly asked everyone in the neighbourhood to contact him if anyone sees me." He muttered with narrowed eyes.

Sakura chortled as she began wearing her heels and headed out after bidding goodbye while Sasori gave a muffled reply back.

As he heard the door closed, he stopped his work and stared at his computer for a long while. He gave a small smirk and started laughing lightly at himself, shaking his head before continuing his work.

_When have I started being so comfortable around her?_

* * *

Author's Note: In the last chapter I mentioned I was fired up for this story and ended up updating two month later. Bravo. But honestly, I think this story would turn out pretty good, not that I'm trying to praise myself of get my hopes up high but oh well... Thanks for the reviews and support!


	4. He Could Tell

Thanks for the Memories

Chapter 4; He Could Tell

* * *

"You look extremely gorgeous today."

Sakura sat beside the driver's seat and shut the car door, smiling and straightening the hem of her dress as she looked over at Ino. "You look just as beautiful, my darling."

Ino stepped on the accelerator and they were on their way to the venue. From bringing up foolish moments they had in high school, to complaining about their work and back to their usual topic.

"How's that red idiot?"

Sakura shook her head in amusement. "He's been quite nice to you lately, must you really call him names?"

Ino shrugged impassively.

She leaned back on her seat and relaxed. "Everything's as usual. Although he seemed a bit tired lately. He didn't get out of the house to get some sun for quite a while."

"Is that so? Looks like he's really hiding from something or someone. Just like I expected."

The thought of wanting to explain the truth slipped out of Sakura's mind and a new thought came to her. She leaned slightly towards Ino and raised her eyebrow. "I have a question for you." Without waiting fro Ino's response, she continued. "Are you in love with Sasori?"

Ino choked. "What are you saying! Me liking Sasori has the same possibility rate of me marring Shino. Negative. Impossible!"

"Why are you so agitated, I was just kidding." Sakura smirked.

She eyed dangerously over at her friend. "Don't you dare. Haruno Sakura."

"It's just that every time we met, you'll _always_ bring up Sasori." Sakura emphasized.

Ino narrowed her eyes. "I'm _always_ asking about him because I want to _make sure_ you're safe with him. Nothing else."

"Really...?

"Really."

Sakura chortled behind the back of her palm and Ino sent her an annoyed look. She stopped her giggles when Ino joined her with her fake laughter.

As the car slowed down, they passed by a few familiar cars parking outside the resturant and one black car caught both of their attention. Sakura knew the next question would be coming but she remained silent before Ino started speaking.

"So... any intention to impress Sasuke? It's been months since you two even meet each other."

Sakura looked out of the window and sighed. "Nothing like that. I don't want to embarrass myself on such a happy day."

"Really...?"

"Really."

.

.

After Sasori finished his work, he went to check his email. It was a routine everyday but ever since he was on the run, he didn't really bother checking his mail anymore. Kakuzu always spammed him with threats even though he should know that he would never get a reply back. But Sasori still checked his email nonetheless, perhaps for entertainment and the possibility of receiving an important mail.

"Damn Kakuzu. He floods my inbox every single hour." He wearily scrolled down his email, deleting all of emails he opened until he stopped when he spotted a sender that wasn't Kakuzu. Sasori curiously went to click it.

_Hey Sasori, is there a way to contact you other than email? I have something to pass to you._

He started typing.

0o0

She came back cheerful that day, he could tell. She was humming her favorite song the whole night and had been smiling even though they were watching the news of a disease outbreak in some part of the world. Her body was back at home, but her mind and spirit was obviously somewhere else. It wasn't like the first time he saw her so happy, but that day, it was as if she was shining brightly like a star.

Obviously good things happened that day, but he didn't want to ask. He still preferred sleep than hearing endless of her story-telling after all. So being the smarty-pants, he only asked the next day when she was preparing for work so even if she want to do some long story-telling, it was only limited to ten minutes.

He was told that she had a _blast_. Sakura managed to catch up with her ex-boyfriend and their relationship, or to be exact, their friendship never grew apart. Things were not as awkward as she expected and she claimed they were actually even_ closer _since the last time she met him.

And so, a few days had past since her reunion with her high school mates.

Sasori looked up at the clock in the kitchen, showing it was half past three in the afternoon. He went back making his coffee while reading some news on his phone, feeling nothing but troubled about how he spent his day doing absolutely nothing but loafing around on a sunny Saturday. He was suppose to make some drafts for his assignment but he didn't have enough inspiration anyway.

Sakura came back around eleven in the morning after her night shift and was in her room until now. He was actually expecting her to only wake up for dinner until he heard the sound of her door opening and footsteps approaching.

"I'm free today! Of course." There was a pause. "That place? Sure! I'll be there. Bye."

His eyes followed Sakura as she gleefully kept her phone back to her pajamas pants pocket and walked right into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of water.

"You're early." He looked back down, stirring his drink. "You going out later?"

"He asked me out today."

"Your ex-boyfriend." He couldn't guess anyone other than him when she sounded so happy like that.

She laughed sheepishly.

"He just asked you out on a date?" Sasori took a sip of his coffee, eyeing Sakura carefully.

Sakura chuckled even louder. She started drawing circles on the counter, staring dreamily at the ceiling. "We're going to meet up where we had our first date."

"Interesting." He walked out of the kitchen along with his coffee and phone. Sakura followed him.

"He is rarely or never free on Saturdays but he's asking me out today."

"Interesting." Sasori said again and sat on the sofa while Sakura just leaned on the arm rest, shifting her whole weight to the back of the sofa.

"But that place isn't some nice restaurant or anything... so what should I wear instead?"

"Why don't you go out in your pajamas. If he never shows up, it proves that he doesn't love you enough so you can stop having such high hopes."

She reached out for his neck and he dodged just in time and sat at the other side of the sofa. She scoffed as she made her way back up to her room, whistling her favorite tune.

As he watched her disappeared up the stairs, he calmly went back savoring his coffee. Before he took a sip, those soft words escaped from his mouth unintentionally.

"I'm just saying."


End file.
